Canoness

"Thou shalt not! I shall!"

The overall leader of the Sisters of Battle, the Canoness commands the Ecclesiarchal forces of the Imperium. Her unwavering devotion to the cause boosts the morale of units she is attached to. She is a versatile combatant, skilled at both ranged and melee attacks. Finally, her boundless fanaticism marks her as a Faithful unit, providing the Faith resource while she remains in the battlefield.

Tactics

The Canoness is a balanced hero, competent in melee and ranged combat with Acts of Faith to use as support. However, this balanced nature can make proper use of the Canoness difficult. Abilities alone do not justify the Canoness, but the Canoness lacks good melee accompaniment until Tier 3. In Tier 1 the Canoness' melee damage is necessary, and generally she can survive fine as a lone commander. Fielding Seraphim Squads or focusing Flamers to break the morale of enemies engaging her can help increase the survivability of the Canoness. The Inferno Pistol makes her one of the best shooting commanders in terms of damage in Tier 1, behind the Force Commander and Chaos Lord.

In Tier 2 survival becomes much more difficult. Options include using the Canoness as a ranged unit, holding the Canoness back until several enemy units' morale is broken, or attaching her to a Celestian Squad. The last option is generally the best; the Celestian Squad is moderately capable in melee combat, and can drop back into a ranged anti-vehicle role if the Canoness takes too much damage. In Tier 3 and beyond the Canoness should always be attached to a Sister Repentia Squad.

The Canoness' Purifying Light ability is great for decreasing damage done by the enemy. Before Flamers are available, Purifying Light can be used to give the Sisters of Battle a much needed edge. Later in the game it can render detector units near impotent while Death-Cult Assassins dispatch their targets. The Canoness' best ability is Ascension, though it has an exorbitant Faith cost. Summoned Avenging Angels are immune to damage, are effective against infantry and vehicles, and can be used to tie up enemy squads in melee.

NOTE: The Canoness' Act of Faith: Ascension is her greatest ability. Although it has much better use than this, with her Avenging Angels, the Canoness certainly becomes the strongest commander when it comes to a commander duel, allowing her to mow down other enemy commander units with sheer ease when calling upon this ability and makes her the one of the best Commanders in the entire game, second only to the Chaos Lord and the Necron Lord for their Daemonic Ascension and Essence of the C'tan Gods respectively. Avenging Angels deal high damage to all armor types to use them as frequently as possible not only for offense but also for defense especially when facing the Imperial Guard's tough vehicles.

Abilities

Act of Faith: Purifying Light

Act of Faith: Purifying Light

Hotkey: D

Requires

Nothing

Target Types

Enemy infantry, heavy infantry, and commanders

Range

0

Area of effect

25

Cooldown time

180 s

Cost

30

Effects

For 20 s, all enemy infantry in the area of effect around the Canoness are blinded by the holy light of the Emperor, suffering the following effects: